I have been taking decorative painting classes since September 2006 from Paul and Cathy Seymour at Seymour’s Creative Legacy Art Studio in Ebensburg, PA. I LOVE to paint!! When I switch into my right brain, my tremors go away and I can control my OCD for a short period of time. It is my therapy!!

Two weekends ago I took a “Bavarian Soft Stroke Floral” class. We painted a tilt-top table (which my darling hubby made). The colors are soft and feminine. I finished mine this weekend and wanted to share the finished product. Amanda will be getting one for Christmas — with four legs — for a night stand for her room!!

I had a reaction to my Betaseron injection. I inject myself every other day to help manage my multiple sclerosis. I forgot to take Tylenol an hour before I gave myself the shot and had chills, hot flashes, nausea, and a fever all night long. It is 1:30 in the afternoon and I am going back to bed.

My MS is progressing and I am discouraged. I need to re-group and figure out how I am going to handle the next few months of my life. I have an appointment with a pain management doctor and need to make an appointment for my eyes. I am weary, spiritually and physically. The Lord reminded me of this precious verse…

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:30,31

God IS faithful — his mercies are new every morning!! I will hang on to his promises.

I must admit, I can be judgmental. It is something that I must continually work on. I always told my kids that first (second, third )impressions DO matter. But if I’m going to live out my faith, they CAN’T matter to me.

I grew up in a home where cards, movies, drinking, dancing were all bad. I didn’t know why, they just were. When I married my darling hubby, his family did all of those things and I had to adjust my thinking to function in his big, wonderful family!!

I’ve come to realize that, unless you have accepted the wonderful gift of Jesus, you don’t have a compass regarding this behavior. If you are a born-again person, this stuff comes under “working out your salvation.”

All of that to say this… We went out (AGAIN!!) to a “Thunder in the Valley” evening in Johnstown. This kind of celebration draws many people, from all walks of life, in all stages of life.

I saw HUGE tatoos, HUGE boobs, HUGE rolls (showing because people were wearing something they should have checked out in the mirror before they left their house). People were in various states of intoxication. There were also happy families and children.

When I saw someone who made a very questionable first impression on me, my first thought was, “Ewwww!! or Gross… or Yuck!!!” But then the Lord impressed upon my heart, “Jesus died for them too!” That put me in my place. Quite frankly, after three or four of these rebukes, I was tired of being spiritually reprimanded, so I stopped saying “Ewwww” to myself 🙂 and just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Lesson learned… for the moment. Hey, I am under grace and still learning at 48.

A good time was had by all and again, because we are old, we were home by {{gasp!!}} 11:00. If we weren’t old, we’d go back down to Johnstown tonight, but we are… so we won’t. 🙂

My darling hubby and I meandered up to Ebensburg, PA last night for an evening of frivolity. “Thunder In The Valley,” a motorcycle rally is held in Johnstown this weekend and Ebensburg has a wing night in conjunction with the rally.

We had to park about 8 blocks away from the center of town, the lines were TOO long for wings, but the beer and wine coolers were good 🙂

It was actually great fun — we talked to lots of people, looked at motorcycles, and listened to really loud, really good music.

Because we are old, our evening ended at 9:30. Great time, great fun!!

My Grandma Amelia was a strong woman. She was an artist, a poet, a musician. She had plastic curtains on the windows in her very dusty and cluttered house, but she had many outside rooms filled with flowers and two goldfish ponds. That is where she spent most of her days. She taught me how to make maple syrup and how to arrange flowers. From her example I learned how to be a performer and to express my opinion “in Christian love.”

She was killed by a drunk driver when I was 10 – she was 54 – in 1969. She LOVED her Lord and Savior.

I don’t have many pictures of her because she was the photographer. I found one that represents my best memory of her.

(That’s me, second from the left)

She encouraged strength of character, artistic expression, love of family and God. She also hated laziness. That is the sum of what she taught me in the few years she was in my life. Pretty powerful life lessons. I have one more legacy — a few of her flowers. They survived 20 years of neglect after she was killed and my Dad and I rescued them before her house was sold.

Every year they bloom, their color and fragrance remind me of her precious life. I believe she is even now with God praying for me. I WILL see her again!!

I fast on Wednesday’s. I have been fasting since February of this year. I am waiting expectantly for the Lord to work in my family’s lives. I am reading “The Joy of Active Prayer” by Dr. Bill Bright. My favorite verse today is:

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13,14

I am going to make Tortellini soup and bread pudding for supper!! Yum!!

This is what I looked like when I was 25. I LOVE THIS picture. I have a few more wrinkles now… but I’ve earned them!!!!!